Zachary's Chicago Pizza — Restaurant in Berkeley

Likely, the best pizza I've had in Cali.

Chicago-style deep dish pizza is something you won't find too rampant in NorCal. Musthave something to do with being... California. No, instead our claim to fame is the thin nastiness that is the likes of "California Pizza Kitchen" and other pizza places that try to put a weird spin on pizza. I love new flavors as much as the next guy, but when it comes to pizza, I prefer tradition. As such, I love places like Zachary's. As friends from Chicago tell me, this place is just as good as the Chicago thing.

To be fair, you can get all sorts of toppings here for your pizza, but when it comes down to it, I'm a purist. Give me a great crust. tomato sauce, & cheese and I can all it a day. Their deep dish with just those things is awesome. A flavorful crust, a pretty rich sauce, and lots of tasty cheese. They got in in their pies, served up deep dish, so you're bound to be full after a slice or 4 (like in my case.) One taste and you won't get enough of this stuff.

For people who like their pizza with the kind of crust their used to, they've got that as well. Heck, they've even got gluten-free crust here if you're into that. It's not as good as the regular stuff, but it's definitely better than any gluten-free crust you'll buy at a store or something.

All in all, this is the best pizza for my dollar here in NorCal. Yes, even better than my precious Fat Slice. It's definitely nowhere as near as affordable, but you're paying for quality here. Top quality for sure and it shows in their pizza. Other places might call themselves "the best in the bay", but places like this make that highly debatable. Zachary's, I...

This is pizza. Pizza. There are other places where you can get something thought up thousands of miles away in a bored room or prepared by someone who's more interested in their paycheck than what's providing that paycheck. This is not that place.

Zachary's has been a mainstay of culinary goodness for decades. When I was a kid and my parents wanted to treat us to good food they knew we would eat, we went to Zachary's. When I was feeling like crap for whatever reason, a slice of Zach's Stuffed special could bring me around. When my prom date's mom wanted to meet me and talk to me to ensure that I wasn't the stalker she'd noticed outside her living room window late at night, she took me (and my date, and her little brother!) to Zach's. Admittedly I felt as though her insistence on a thin crust pie was a test of my nerve but I got through it. She allowed me to escort her sweet daughter to prom and all ended well. Now D. and I frequent the place and she's always pleased with whatever we choose. But Zach's special is the best introduction to this Mecca of deliciousness.

So go. There are millions before you who will attest to Zach's wondrous recipes for STUFFED (deep dish? What is this deep dish?) pizza pie. The artwork on the wall is just interesting enough to keep you distracted long enough while your pie bakes. The selection of beers and other libations is interesting as well and is well suited to the pies. The salads are also delicious and should not be overlooked. The staff is conscientious and helpful if you're unfamiliar with the offerings. So go, already....how many glowing reviews do you...

I have to be honest, I expected more.

This place has been hyped for years now for me. With great experiences at Little Star, Capo's, and even Patxi's, I was excited to finally try the famous Zachary's. I don't know if we ordered the wrong thing, but I was underwhelmed.

For me and my parents, we got a regular sized Greek salad and a medium spinach and mushroom stuffed pizza. The Greek salad had some kind of orange dressing on it, I think it was roasted red pepper. It was delicious, actually, but I could have used more salad, and I was surprised at the size of it for something that was "regular" size knowing that there was a smaller option. The pizza was well flavored but the structure was a bit off. It wasn't as deeply stuffed as I'm used to with Chicago style pizza, and the sauce was really watery. There was a puddle on my plate when I was done eating, as well as one in the middle of the pizza pie! That said, the sauce was very herb forward, which I appreciated, and I loved the big chunks of tomato that made it clear the sauce was homemade. The cheese was perfectly stringy as the pizza was served to us, though the pie could have used more mushrooms as well as more spinach. The spinach that was there was bright green, as opposed to overly wilted, and the crust was crunchy and held up surprisingly well to the watery sauce.

The service was great - our server was very friendly and drew us a picture on our paper bag for our leftover slice! I definitely appreciated the business and what they were doing, I just wish the pizza had...